Sunday, July 7, 2013

Hardcover Nonfiction:1. The Guns at Last Night, by Rick Atkinson
2. Let's Explore Diabeters with Owls, by David Sedaris
3. The Unwinding, by George Packer
4. Dad is Fat, by Jim Gaffigan
5. I Could Pee on This, by Francesco Marciuliano

Hardcover Fiction:
1. And the Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini
2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman
3. The Illusion of Separateness, by Simon Van Booy
4. Sisterland, by Curtis Sittenfeld
5. TransAtlantic, by Colum McCann

Last week's top five in this category was a boys' club, but this week we at least have Curtis Sittenfeld's Sisterland, about two psychic twins. Alana Semuels in the Los Angeles Times writes "by the end of the book readers will wish that Kate and Violet were real people, both because they're relatable women and because it's fun to imagine that psychics exist who can know things with such an impressive degree of accuracy — that they're out there in the American heartland, living in this world, but also in one that's full of mystery and adventure."

Books for Kids:
1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
2. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
3. The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani
4. Dork Diaries V6: Tales from a Not-so-Happy Heartbreaker, by Rachel Renee Russell
5. Little Blue Truck, by Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurray

Here's our rec from Mel for The School for Good and Evil: "In this book, you will find a completely original idea, several layers of meaning, and a few meta moments. Soman Chainani's The School for Good and Evil is a splendid tale of friendship and growth between two girls who are trying to figure out who they are while stuck in the clutch of a school divided in which labels are necessary for survival. Sophie and Agatha demonstrate the value of friendship, regardless of social expectations. This entertaining novel takes the young adult fantasy genre to new places with strong female protagonists, and will give Harry Potter fans something new to look forward to."

Jim Higgins reports on The Best of Connie Willis, which he contends includes "both one of the most poignant World War II time-travel tales and, I feel completely confident in writing this, the greatest alien-first-contact-at-Christmas story ever."